Process of cleaning gloves of kid or leather.



R. LUNGSTRAS. PROCESS OF CLEANING GLOVES 0F KID 0R LEATHER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1910.

Patented Mar. 7, 1911.

4.17 gig? pairs sre'rns regent @FFIQE.

ROBERT LUNGSTBAS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

PROCESS OF CLEANING GLOVES OF KID OR LEATHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mam "F, 1911.

Application filed November 4, 1910. Serial No. 590,691.

grease, dirt, perspiration, etc., which is found upon gloves, andparticularly upon the finger tips thereof, which have been worn for anyconsiderable period; and has for its Ob ect to afford a process notmerely simple and inexpenslve, but, also, rapid and eflective.

In the earlier methods of cleaning gloves the article would be firstsoaked in a volatile dissolving or cleaning fluid, next placed on forms,then rubbed by hand with a bristle brush or sponge moistened with thecleaning fluid, and finally rinsed in a receptacle containing fresh (orclean) dissolving fluid. Subsequently came attempts to eliminate thelarge expenditure of time and manual labor entailed in the earlierprocess described and machines were introduced comprising bristlebrushes which revolved or otherwise moved in a cleansing fluid incontact with the gloves placed in said machines. In some of thesemechanical contrivances the brushes referred to were given areciprocatory or scrubbing .movement with the idea of more eflicaciouslycleaning the gloves, while in other types one field or series of brushesis moved in a direction opposite to that given' another field or series;Here, also, the gloves were rinsed in fresh cleaning fluid after removalfrom the machine and the finger tips would then be examined, whereuponit would be found that approximately 75% were insufficiently cleaned andthese would be' put on a hand stick or forms and thetips worked clean byfriction with a moistened brush or sponge as in the earlier process.W'here stains are stubborn the glove is removed from the form andkneaded between the fingers of the operator for the three-fold purposeof softening the material, raising the fiber or nap if the glove be ofthe undressed variety, and, primarilyfto squeeze out (as it were) thedirt, the article beingmoist or damp with cleaning fluid while sokneaded.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of anapparatus by the aid of which my process, hereinafter to be described,can be carried out, and Fig. 2 a cross-section of the same apparatus.

In the practice of my invention I employ, preferably, the cylindricaldevice depicted, comprising a chamber 1 suspended, by axles 4L, andadapted to receive reciprocal rotation or rotation continuously in thesame direction through the agency of a crank andhandle 5 prolonged fromone of said other means for imparting motion may be substituted for saidcrank, such as a belt and pulley arrangement or the well-known automaticreversing-gears Into such a vessel, or other suitable device, Iintroduce the gloves or similar articles to be cleaned, a quantity ofvolatile dissolving or cleaning'fluid 6,

in and washed by the gasolene, the oleic acid, being readily solubleinthe volatile fluid employed, is saponified by the alkali and attacksand disintegrates the oily deposits and dirt of other character upon thegloves,

objects aforesaid is to compress between I themselves and betweenthemselves and the interior wall of the machine the glove fabric,constantly grind and work upon every portion of its exposed surface andfrom every possible angle, and so motion formerly imparted by the handsof the operator, but to gently and persistently character, as aforesaid.J

Many and repeated experiments have been conducted in the determinationof the char acter of the object bestsuited to be'used in this processand steel, aluminurmwood', glass and agate have been tried and abandoneas inefficient. The substance finally selected is a baked white clay ofpeculiar 2 affixed to its opposite heads 3, in a casing axles. It willbe understood, of course, that preferably a high-grade gasolene, analkali,

motion, the gloves are constantly submerged while the highly importantfunction of the to not only supply the valued kneading abrade thematerial by reason of their rough 25 of the many objects requiredqualities which is found principally, if not exclusively, in Saxony, andenters into the composition of the celebrated Dresden porcelain orchina. I am quite well aware, as one long engaged in the garmentcleaning industry, that the prior art discloses washing contrivanceswherein are used plain, clothcovered, or loaded spheres whose functionto facilitate the cleaning of garments in water, but in sharp contrastthereto the objects which I have adopted are naturally rough andgradually wear away in use until they reach that small size where theirweight, eithersingly or in contact with each other :in their massage ofthe glove, is a negative factor, whereupon they are removed and replacedby new objects of a standard size. Where cloth-covered objects are usedI it entails a prohibitive cost both in original.

manufacture and in renewals, leaves scraps of lint-or other substanceupon the gloves, and requires the constant inspection of an operative tosee that the covering upon each used is in fit condition to be of anyutility whatever. Moreover, the action of cloth upon kid or leather,dressed or undressed, is obviously of decidedly less result than theaction thereupon of comparatively rough, hardened mineral. This may besimply, although imperfectly, demonstrated to the satisfaction of anyone by enfolding any small object in a handkerchief or other fabric andthen rubbingthe same over a piece of blotting-paper, ,kid or leather,and then removing the fabric, roughening the surface of the object andthen gently rubbing the same upon a different portion of theblotting-paper.

When steel, aluminum, wood, glass or agate objects are used the glovesmay be kneaded or compressed thereby and thus the greasy or otherdeposits squeezed out with the aid of the softening or dissolving'fluid, but compression is the only factor secured by the. introductionof the objects mentioned or anything similar thereto, for

likened to that produced by an extremely fine sand-paper or scouringpowder applied with the lightest touch, which necessarily 'removes anydirty nap or glaze and exposes the underlying comparatively cleanstrata, and smooth objects naturally are incapable of effecting any suchresult. Bristles are not only very expensive, but are unsatisfactory inview of the fact that they soon lose their rigidity and mash down upontheir support when brought in contact with the articles they aresupposed to scour. Moreover, any undesirable effect which might beanticipated from the employment of a substance calculated to abrade orengage with the glove leather is obviated by the important fact that myobjects are not hard and unyielding, but, on the contrary,

they wear away constantly and, quite freely.

Their loss of size, and consequent loss of weight, is gradual andregular, however, so that throughout their life each one retains itsoriginal outline and therefore presents to glove a point of contactalways of the same physical character.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is Theprocess of cleaning articles of kid or leather which comprises thedisposition of said articles in a dissolving fluid, in adding to saidfluid an acid and an alkali, in imparting motion to the vesselcontaining said fluid, acid and alkali, and in subjecting said articlesin the moving vessel to massage and compression by a plurality ofcomparatively heavy objects of gritty character adapted to readily wearaway in use, .substantially as and for the purpose described.

ROBERT LUNGSTRAS.

Vitnesses:

JULIA M. LAURENT, THOMAS EnsKINE.

